Variable ratio scanning means for a facsimile system

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for changing the scale of reproduction in an engraving machine employs a curved frame for holding the object to be reproduced and means for reciprocating the object before a photoscanner traveling relative to the object at a rate equal to the rate of travel of a recording head across a recording medium which is receiving a reproduction of the object.

f f, United States aient Inventors Heinz Taudt Kiel; Ewald Liiferth,Kiel-Kronshagen, both of, Germany Appl. No. 767,164 Filed Oct. 14, 1968Patented June 29, 1971 Assignee Dr. lug Rudolf HellKommanditgesellschaft Priority Oct. 18, 1967 Germany VARIABLE RATIOSCANNING MEANS FOR A FACSIMILE SYSTEM 7 Claims, 1 Drawing Fig.

US. Cl A. 178/6, 178/66, 178/67, 178/76 Int. Cl H04n 1/24 501 Field ofSearch 178/66, 6.6 A, 6.6 B, 6.7, 7.6

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,109,888 11/1963 Moe .r178/6.7 3,382,318 5/1968 Levine 178/6.7

Primary Examiner-J. Russell Goudeau Altorneyl-lil1, Sherman, Meroni,Gross, and Simpson ABSTRACT: Apparatus for changing the scale ofreproduction in an engraving machine employs a curved frame for holdingthe object to be reproduced and means for reciprocating the objectbefore a photoscanner traveling relative to the object at a rate equalto the rate of travel of a recording head across a recording mediumwhich is receiving a reproduction ofthe object.

VARIABLE RATIO SCANNING MEANS FOR A FACSIMILE SYSTEM BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates toreproduction apparatus, and in particular to apparatus for providing aplurality of reproduction scales for drum to drum-type engravingmachines.

2. Description of the Prior Art Engraving machines and color scanners ofthe drum type are much simpler in construction and are thereforecorrespondingly less expensive than flatbed machines, but as is wellknown, drum-type machines have the disadvantage that it is only possibleto change the scale of reproduction by exchanging the picture drum orthe reproduction drum for a drum of another diameter. The scale ofreproduction can therefore only be varied in a finite number of steps,and consequently, a corresponding number of drums of different diametersmust be kept available. Furthermore, in addition to the provision ofvarious sizes of drums, a true-to-scale gear increase or decrease of theadvance of scanning and recording members must also be provided.

In engraving machines or color scanners wherein at least the scanningmovement is a reciprocal movement (e.g. machines of the mixed flatbedtype) the scale of reproduction may be varied continuously and much moreeasily than in the aforementioned drum to drum-type machines in thatreciprocal movements may be transmitted through the aid and expediencyof levers and the scale of transmission may be continuously altered byaltering the leverage ratio, that is by shifting the pivot point ofalever.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention overcomes the abovescale-changing problems for drum to drum-type machines by providing forsuch machines apparatus which employs the advantages of levers inchanging the scale of reproduction to provide combination table-drumreproduction apparatus.

According to the invention, reproduction apparatus comprising a carriageincluding a baseplate which is rigidly connected to the scanning head ofthe engraving machine and a slide on which is mounted an auxiliary shaftparallel to the drum shaft and which is shiftable with respect to thecarriage but immovable with respect to the bench or frame of themachine. The auxiliary shaft extends at least over the range of advancemovement of the scanning head and means are connected between the drumshaft and the auxiliary shaft for transmitting movement therebetween.The last-mentioned means derives an altering rotation for the auxiliaryshaft from the unidirectional rotation of the drum shaft. The auxiliaryshaft carries a picture frame which is arranged to be movable on theauxiliary shaft, but which is fixed with respect to the slide of thecarriage and a coulisse is arranged to be coupled to the scanning headand supported on a fixed guide rail and against the carriage slide insuch a manner as to cause the carriage slide to move in the direction ofadvance movement of the scanning head and at a slower rate than theadvancement of the scanning head.

Advantageously, a rotary cam arrangement is coupled between the drumshaft and the auxiliary shaft including a longitudinally movable rod forfollowing a cam disc coupled to the drum shaft and engaging one arm ofthe two-armed lever mounted on a fixed pivot point, the other arm ofsaid lever being articulated via a second longitudinally movable rod toa circular disc segment secured to the auxiliary shaft, the leverageratio being variable by shifting the position of the pivot point alongthe lever.

In the particular embodiment of the invention illustrated herein, thecoulisse includes a follower rail which is secured to the slide of thecarriage and a rod for bearing against said follower, and means formovably mounting the rod to the scanning head in such a manner that therod is movable at approximately right angles to the direction ofadvancement of the scanning head. A fixed guide rail for supporting theother end of the rod is mounted at an adjustable angle, the angle beingacute with respect to the direction of advancement of the scanning head.

The pivot point of the two-armed lever may be shifted to alter the scaleof reproduction of the picture height, while the scale of the picturewidth may be altered by adjusting the angle of the fixed guide rail.

The apparatus according to the present invention may be attached to adrum type machine and disassembled from the machine in a comparativelyshort time and with simple means, and in particular without specialtools. The advantages of the apparatus according to the invention willimmediately be apparent in that the invention saves the purchase of themuch more expensive table-drum machine, or at least the purchase of anassortment of different drums to enable a drum machine to be usable fora number of different reproduction scales.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The invention, its organization andconstruction will be best understood by reference to the followingdetailed description taken in conjunction with the single drawing whichillustrates a particular embodiment thereof by a pictorial and schematicrepresentation of apparatus for converting a drum type machine into atable-drum machine.

In the drawing, a drum shaft 1 is shown partly broken away. A recordingdrum 30 is schematically shown as being carried for rotation on shaft 1,it will be understood that means for driving the shaft are arranged on apart of the shaft which is not represented, but which is symbolized bythe curved arrows of rotation 36. Also, only a portion of the frame orframe supplement 35 is shown for clarity.

A photoelectric scanning head 2 is mounted for movement as is usuallypracticed, substantially transverse of the drawing. A scanning lightbeam emerges from a tube 4 and falls on an objective sensor 3 of thescanning head 2. The tube 4 is attached to another tube 5 in which thescanning light beam is guided and reflected along the axis thereof froma source, referenced by jagged arrow 34. The movement of the tube 5conforms exactly to the advance movement of the scanning head 2.

A carriage comprising a baseplate 6 which is secured to the scanninghead 2, and a slide 7 which is shiftable with respect to the baseplate 6in the direction parallel to the direction of the advance of scanninghead 2. Mounted on the slide 7 are two trunnions 8, 9 in which anauxiliary shaft 10 is rotatably mounted parallel to the drum shaft 1 andwhich is axially shiftable with respect to the slide 7. The shaft 10,however, is prevented from moving axially with respect to the base 6 bya thrust bearing (not shown). An arm 11 is secured to the auxiliaryshaft 10 by means of a slot and key so as to be axially movable, butnonrotatable on the shaft 10. The arm II is, moreover, trapped betweenthe trunnions 8, 9 so that it is prevented from moving in a directionparallel to the slide 7. A curved picture support or frame 12 is carriedby the arm lit for concentric reciprocation about axis of the auxiliaryshaft 10. Picture support l2 has a picture gate 13 formed therein.

The arm 11 enables a transparency attached to the picture gate 13 to bereciprocated up and down across the optical axis between the objectivesensor 3 and the tube 4, whereby the transparency is vertically scanned.The alternating rotation of the auxiliary shaft necessary for thispurpose is derived from the unidirectional rotation of the drum shaft 1.After the normal scanning drum has been removed in a drum-type machine,a cam disc 14 is mounted on the drum shaft 1 for causing a longitudinalreciprocating movement of rod 15. The movement of rod 15 is transmitted,by means of a two-armed lever 16, to a further rod 17 which isarticulated to a circular disc segment 18 mounted on the auxiliary shaft10. In order to render the articulation free from slipping andslackening, a tie embracing the segment 18 and connected to the rod 17may be provided for each direction of movement of the rod in a knownmanner. The segment 18 and the rod 17 could also be provided by asegment-rack gear arrangement.

Since the rods and 17 are longitudinally movable, it is necessary tohave a length compensation on the lever 16. This is effected byproviding a slot 32 at one end joint and a slot 33 in a region about thepoint of rotation. Slot 33 is also necessary in order for the fixedpivot bearing 19 to be made adjustable for altering the leverage ratioof lever 16.

A coulisse or camming structure 20 is attached to the lower surface ofthe slide 7. A rod 21, which is slidable along the coulisse 20 by meansof a roller 22 is provided to move the slide 7. The rod 21 is movablelongitudinally in bearings 23, 24 secured to the scanning head 2 (i.e.at right angles to the direction of advance of the scanning head 2).Spring 26 biases the slide 7 so that coulisse 20 is urged against roller22 of rod 21. With such a coulisse arrangement, as the scanning head 2is advanced, roller 27 which is attached to rod 21 rides the angularlyfixed rod 28, and rod 21 moves at right angles through the path ofadvancement of the sensor head 2. The rod 21 in turn has its roller 22riding against the coulisse 20, therefore, the slide 7 moves in thedirection of advancement of the scanning head 2. The tensioned spring 26which is connected between the slide 7 and an angle member secured tothe baseplate 6 maintains the slide 7 by way of its coulisse arm 20 toalways respond to movements of rod 21. The picture original is thereforescanned horizontally due to the relative movement of slide 7 andscanning head 2.

As mentioned above, the other end of the rod 21 carries a roller 27which rests on a guide rail 28. This guide rail is assumed to be fixed,but adjustable, at an acute angle with respect to the direction ofadvance of the scanning head 2. Pivot bearing 29 illustrates thecapability of changing the acute angle.

In operation, the drum shaft 1 together with the recording drum 30 isrotated in a unidirectional and uniform manner and a similar movement isimparted to the scanning head 2 and the recording head, symbolized byschematic connection 31. The auxiliary shaft 10 is then rotatedalternatively in one direction and then in the other direction due tothe shape of cam disc 14 so that the arm 11 moves the picture support 12up and down between the light beam from tube 4 and the objective sensor3 of the scanning head 2.

The scale of reproduction for the scanning direction, that is to say theratio between scanning speed and peripheral speed of the recording drum30 is determined by the leverage ratio of the two-armed lever 16 and theadjustment ofits pivot point at bearing 19. For a transmission scale ofl:l the advance of the scanning head is the same as the advance of therecording head. The selection of another scale is carried out by asuitable adjustment of the acute angle formed between the guide rail 28and the direction of advancement of the scanning head 2. When thescanning head 2 moves in the direction of advancement, a longitudinalmovement is imparted to the rod 21 sliding along the inclined guide rail28. The sliding of the roller 22 along the coulisse arm 20 effects arelative movement of the slide 7 with respect to the baseplate 6, thearrangement being such that the movement of the slide 7 is in the samedirection and at a different speed with respect to that of the baseplate6. The advance of the scanning head 2 with respect to the picturesupport 12 is therefore the same as this relative movement or the sameas the difference between the two movements with respect to the machinebench.

Although the invention has been described herein by reference to aspecific illustrative embodiment, many changes and modifications of theinvention will be apparent to those skilled in the art and should beincluded within the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth inthe appended claims.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for attachment to an engraving machine or color scannerhaving a frame and a scanning head and normally employing a pair ofrotatable drums for supporting the picture original to be scanned andthe recording medium respectively, both drums being driven by a commondrum shaft, whereby said machine is convertible into a machine of thetable-drum type to allow for reciprocal scanning movement, saidapparatus comprising:

a carriage including a baseplate connected to said scanning head,

a slide carried on said baseplate, and an auxiliary shaft mounted onsaid slide for rotational motion and axial motion with respect to saidslide,

means connected between said drum shaft and said auxiliary shaft fortranslating rotation motion of said drum shaft into alternatingrotational motion for said auxiliary shaft, means carried by saidauxiliary shaft for holding a picture original, and

means connected to said frame and coupled to said scanning head and saidslide for causing said slide to move in the direction of advancemovement of, and at a different speed than, said scanning head.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said means for transmitting motionbetween said drum shaft and said auxiliary shaft comprises a cam mountedon said drum shaft for rotation therewith, a longitudinally movable camfollower for riding on said cam, a lever having a fixed pivot point andtwo lever arms, one of said lever arms being coupled to said camfollower, a longitudinally movable rod connected to said auxiliary shaftand coupled to said longitudinally movable rod for imparting movementsof said rod to said auxiliary shaft.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein said fixed pivot point ofsaid two-armed lever is adjustable to vary the leverage ratio thereoffor varying the ratio of scanning speed to recording speed.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said means for movingsaid slide comprises a first guide rail secured to said frame at anacute angle with respect to the path of travel of said scanning head, asecond guide rail carried by said slide and disposed at an angle to thepath of travel of said slide, and a rod movably mounted on said scanninghead for movement in a direction that is substantially perpendicular tothe path of travel of said scanning head and in contact with said firstand second guide rails.

55. Apparatus according to claim 4, comprising biasing means for urgingsaid second guide rail against said rod.

6. Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said second guide rail isadjustable to various acute angles with respect to the direction oftravel of said scanning head for varying the relative speed between saidscanning head and the slide-carried object to be scanned.

7. Scanning apparatus comprising means for holding an object to bescanned, a shaft mounted for rotation, a drum carried by said shaft, arecording medium carried on said drum for recording the informationcontent of said object, means for rotating said shaft, scanning means,means mounting said scanning means for movement along a predeterminedpath, means for moving said scanning means relative to said objectincluding guide means angularly positionable with respect to thedirection of travel of said scanning means, means mounted on saidscanning means for movement perpendicular to the path of travel of saidscanning means and bearing on said guide means, means carrying saidholding means mounted for movement parallel to the path of travel ofsaid scanning means including a camming member secured thereto and meansurging said camming means against said perpendicularly movable means,the angle of said guide means with respect to said path of travel ofsaid scanning means determining the relative movement of said scanningmeans with respect to said object.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION 3,590,148 DatedJune 29, 1971 Patent No.

In ento It is certified that error appears in the above-identifiedpatent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 4, line 29, read "longitudinally movable rod connected to saidauxiliary shaft" as longitudinally movable rod connected to the other ofsaid lever arms, a circular disk segment connected to said auxiliaryshaft Signed and sealed this L th day of January 1972.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD PLFLETOHEmJR. ROBERT GOTTSGHALK Acting Commissioner of PatentsAttesting Officer FORM PO 1OS0 [10-69) USCOMNPDC 503764359 9 u 5GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE was O366-334

1. Apparatus for attachment to an engraving machine or color scannerhaving a frame and a scanning head and normally employing a pair ofrotatable drums for supporting the picture original to be scanned andthe recording medium respectively, both drums being driven by a commondrum shaft, whereby said machine is convertible into a machine of thetable-drum type to allow for reciprocal scanning movement, saidapparatus comprising: a carriage including a baseplate connected to saidscanning head, a slide carried on said baseplate, and an auxiliary shaftmounted on said slide for rotational motion and axial motion withrespect to said slide, means connected between said drum shaft and saidauxiliary shaft for translating rotation motion of said drum shaft intoalternating rotational motion for said auxiliary shaft, means carried bysaid auxiliary shaft for holding a picture original, and means connectedto said frame and coupled to said scanning head and said slide forcausing said slide to move in the direction of advance movement of, andat a different speed than, said scanning head.
 2. The apparatus of claim1, wherein said means for transmitting motion between said drum shaftand said auxiliary shaft comprises a cam mounted on said drum shaft forrotation therewith, a longitudinally movable cam follower for riding onsaid cam, a lever having a fixed pivot point and two lever arms, one ofsaid lever arms being coupled to said cam follower, a longitudinallymovable rod connected to said auxiliary shaft and coupled to saidlongitudinally movable rod for imparting movements of said rod to saidauxiliary shaft.
 3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein said fixedpivot point of said two-armed lever is adjustable to vary the leverageratio thereof for varying the ratio of scanning speed to recordingspeed.
 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said means formoving said slide comprises a first guide rail secured to said frame atan acute angle with respect to the path of travel of said scanning head,a second guide rail carried by said slide and disposed at an angle tothe path of travel of said slide, and a rod movably mounted on saidscanning head for movement in a direction that is substantiallyperpendicular to the path of travel of said scanning head and in contactwith said first and second guide rails.
 5. Apparatus according to claim4, comprising biasing means for urging said second guide rail againstsaid rod.
 6. Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said second guiderail is adjustable to various acute angles with respect to the directionof travel of said scanning head for varying the relative speed betweensaid scanning head and the slide-carried object to be scanned. 7.Scanning apparatus comprising means for holding an object to be scanned,a shaft mounted for rotation, a drum carried by said shaft, a recordingmedium carried on said drum for recording the information content ofsaid object, means for rotating said shaft, scanning means, meansmounting said scanning means for movement along a Predetermined path,means for moving said scanning means relative to said object includingguide means angularly positionable with respect to the direction oftravel of said scanning means, means mounted on said scanning means formovement perpendicular to the path of travel of said scanning means andbearing on said guide means, means carrying said holding means mountedfor movement parallel to the path of travel of said scanning meansincluding a camming member secured thereto and means urging said cammingmeans against said perpendicularly movable means, the angle of saidguide means with respect to said path of travel of said scanning meansdetermining the relative movement of said scanning means with respect tosaid object.